Title: Gallagher’s pub. Where I worked as a short order cook. Gallegher’s Pub was voted best dive bar back then. The only claim to fame was Mary Chapin Carpenter was discovered as she sang on the open mike nights there. The money I earned went a long way to getting me through the University of MD.

Title: sandbox. A mangled running board from a VW bug runs across the composition. VW bugs became all the rage due to gas shortages and the general collapse of the economy in the early 1980s. De-industrialization had taken root.

Title: Of my colleagues he glanced, I am afraid. An object artwork featuring three rusted spark plugs dangling from car hoses. The de-industrialization of the 1970s and 1980s was in full swing. Bruce Springsteen would write in his song Jungleland: “the poets down here write nothing at all they just stand back and let it all be.” He was saying he was the only artist focused on the impact of mills and plants closings on the workers. The object artwork I merged had only a few words visible in the books covered with paint. They were “of my colleagues he glanced, I am afraid.” Echoing Bruce’s sentiments.

Title: Handicapped painting (side1). Yes it actually rolled. Deindustrialization theme

Title: Handicapped painting (side2). The object artwork had a broken crutch, a crushed house paint can, an iron, an electrical cord plugged into a spring.

post modern still life

Title: Trophy. An object artwork of plaster cast for a broken arm is mounted in the panel of a refrigerator. A techno-economic visualization if there ever was one for the ongoing 1980s deindustrialization in the US.

Title: He’s got the Whole Wide World in his hands. My rusted spare tire from my 1969 Buick Skylark mounted on an eight foot tall piece of plywood. The plant closings and their impacts on the assembly line workers is portrayed.

Title: The first concept. Object artwork featuring paint cans dangling from empty liqueur boxes wrapped in a plastic sheath. The economic malaise from the 1980s US manufacturing and its impact.

blue man

Title: Oracle. I was given a test in Langley High School which was designed to assist you in choosing a career (Strong-Campbell test). The results were glued underneath car speaker covers, chains and paint. The top two results were: I should do something artistic as I was indoors personality. The second one was I should work outdoors and be something like a bulldozer operator.

Title: Thunderstorm. This 8′ tall and 4′ wide object artwork had metal strapping (sounds like thunder when you snap it), pieces of rusted metal, mixed with plastic sheets and paint. De-industrialization theme. The impact of sudden powerful techno-economic thunderstorm on the US manufacturing sector.